ut his amour with the lady of
fortune, which seemed to be so near a happy conclusion when I had the
pleasure of seeing him last: and, after an immoderate fit of laughter,
he gave me to understand that he had been egregiously bit in that
affair. "You must know," said he, "that a few days after our adventure
with the bawd, and her b--ches, I found means to be married to that same
blue lady you speak of, and passed the night with her at her lodgings,
so much to her satisfaction, that early in the morning, after a good
deal of snivelling and sobbing, she owned, that, far from being an
heiress of great fortune, she was no other than a common woman of the
town, who had decoyed me into matrimony, in order to enjoy the privilege
of a femme couverte; and that, unless I made my escape immediately, I
should be arrested for a debt of her contracting, by bailigs employed
and instructed for that purpose. Startled at this intimation, I rose in
a twinkling, and taking leave of my spouse with several hearty damns,
got safe into the verge of the court, where I kept snug, until I was
appointed surgeon's mate of a man-of-war at Portsmouth; for which place
I set out on Sunday, went on board of my ship, in which I sailed to the
Straits, where I had the good fortune to be made surgeon of a sloop that
came home a few months after, and was put out of commission: whereupon,
I came to London, imagining myself forgotten, and freed from my wife and
her creditors, but had not been in town a week, before I was arrested
for a debt of hers, amounting to twenty pounds, and brought to this
place, where I have been fixed by another action since that time.
However, you know my disposition, I defy care and anxiety; and being
on the half-pay list, make shift to live here tolerably easy." I
congratulated him on his philosophy, and, remembering that I was in his
debt, repaid the money he formerly lent me, which, I believe, was far
from being unseasonable. I then inquired about the economy of the place,
which he explained to my satisfaction; and, after we had agreed to mess
together, he was just now going to give orders for dinner when Strap
arrived.

I never in my life saw sorrow so extravagantly expressed in any
countenance as in that of my honest friend, which was, indeed,
particularly adapted by nature for such impressions. When we were left
by ourselves, I communicated to him my disaster, and endeavoured to
console him with the same arguments he had former